Porter latest in string of MLAs to turn Independent

With his decision to leave the Tories to sit as an Independent, Hants West MLA Chuck Porter becomes the most recent representative in Province House to have no party ties.

Before Porter’s announcement Friday, former New Democrat MLA Trevor Zinck was the last MLA to sit in the House as an Independent. Zinck was forced out by his party following the revelation of his involvement with the MLA expense scandal. The former Dartmouth North MLA eventually resigned from office all together.

Other MLAs who sat as Independents in recent memory include former Liberal MLA Russell MacKinnon, who sat as an Independent in 1994 after being suspended for not voting along party lines. He later sat as an Independent in 2005 after returning to office as the member for Cape Breton West. Like Zinck, MacKinnon was implicated in the MLA expense scandal.

Former Cape Breton East MLA Reeves Matheson sat as an Independent in 1998 after being suspended from the NDP caucus because of legal troubles, while former Chester-St. Margarets MLA Hinrich Bitter-Suermann had a brief spell as an Independent between leaving the Tories to join the Dippers.

There was also Ernie Fage. The former cabinet minister and Cumberland North MLA was forced to leave the Tory caucus when he found himself in legal hot water after leaving the scene of a car accident in 2006.

Former Cape Breton Nova MLA Paul MacEwan was elected as an Independent in 1988, following stints as a member of the NDP and the Cape Breton Labour Party. He would later move to the Liberals. Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean was elected as an Independent MLA in 1987, although he would be defeated the following year.

And former Cape Breton-The Lakes MLA Brian Boudreau lost a nomination for the Liberals after multiple brushes with the law. Without a party nomination for the subsequent election, he sat in the House as an Independent.

Another Gordie update

New Democrat MLA Gordie Gosse made a surprise visit to Province House on Wednesday.

The Sydney-Whitney Pier representative is on leave as he undergoes treatment for cancer. Gosse, who’s looking much slimmer than before his leave, said his surgery lasted 12 hours and he’s feeling pretty good, all things considered.

Gosse said he’s scheduled to begin radiation treatment as soon as he regains some of the weight he lost. He’s doing his best on that front, eating “everything I can get my hands on,” although Gosse said his love of spicy food is on hold at the moment. Keep fighting the good fight, Gordie.

Bluenosers looking to lead in Ontario?

With the Liberals winning a majority government in last week’s Ontario provincial election and Tory Leader Tim Hudak subsequently resigning as head of the party, the focus in political circles there has shifted to who might be the next leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.

Two of the names being tossed around have ties to Nova Scotia.

Cape Breton native Lisa Raitt may be the federal transport minister right now, but she didn’t exactly rule out the idea of taking a run at the provincial party leadership when recently asked in a CBC interview. Raitt is the former president and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority.

Another Ontario politician with Nova Scotia ties who could be interested is Lisa MacLeod.

MacLeod was re-elected in Nepean-Carleton last week, her fourth win in a row since taking office for the first time in a byelection. Although she was a major supporter of Hudak’s, the door could be open for the New Glasgow native to take a run at replacing her former boss.